On The Money — Presented by Citi — Build Back Better…late than never?

Happy Thursday and welcome to On The Money, your nightly guide to everything affecting your bills, bank account and bottom line. Subscribe here: digital-staging.thehill.com/newsletter-signup.

Today’s Big Deal: President Biden’s sweeping climate and social services plan is going nowhere fast. We’ll also look at Biden’s signature on a debt ceiling bill and new climate risk guidance from a bank regulator.

But first, a warning from the president about the omicron wave. 

For The Hill, I’m Sylvan Lane. Write me at slane@digital-staging.thehill.com or @SylvanLane. You can reach my colleagues on the Finance team Naomi Jagoda at njagoda@digital-staging.thehill.com or @NJagoda and Aris Folley at afolley@digital-staging.thehill.com or @ArisFolley.

Let’s get to it.

Biden plan suddenly in serious danger 

President Biden’s $2 trillion climate and social spending bill, which appeared to have strong momentum when it passed the House a month ago, now appears to be in real danger of collapsing in the Senate.

• Democratic senators now concede there is no chance of passing the Build Back Better Act before the end of the year as they had hoped.
• A Senate Republican aide on Thursday said that Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) and Republicans are close to a deal to confirm a bloc of nominees and hold some others over until January, which would clear the Senate calendar for the rest of 2021 and allow senators to go home for Christmas.

There is also a chance the entire Build Back Better bill will have to be reworked to accommodate Sen. Joe Manchin’s (D-W.Va.) opposition to including a one-year extension of the expanded child tax credit in the bill.

• Manchin says he does not oppose the tax credit, which he has backed in past legislation. 
• But he argues that because the credit is likely to be renewed over the next decade, its true cost is not reflected in the current bill’s official Congressional Budget Office score.

The West Virginia senator wants the bill to reflect the 10-year cost of the tax credit, which would require other tax hikes or spending cuts to prevent the official cost of the bill from rising heavily.

But frustrations are mounting. Alexander Bolton explains here.

A MESSAGE FROM CITI

Tackling the startup world’s gender, race and ethnic funding gap.

With our $200 million Impact Investment Fund we are seeking opportunities to invest in businesses that are led or owned by women and minority entrepreneurs, helping to create equitable access to venture capital funding.

LEADING THE DAY

Biden signs debt ceiling increase, averting default

President Biden on Thursday signed a bill raising the debt ceiling by $2.5 trillion, narrowly averting default on the nation’s debt.

• The measure passed the Senate Tuesday afternoon in a 50-49 vote that was strictly along party lines after Democrats and Republicans reached a deal to sidestep the filibuster.

• The House moved to pass the bill late Tuesday in a 221-209 vote with one Republican member voting in favor, sending it to Biden’s desk for his signature.

Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen had warned Congress that the federal government could default on its debt soon after Wednesday without action to raise the debt limit. The U.S. will avoid default until at least 2023—when Republicans are likely to take control of at least one chamber of Congress after the midterm elections.

CLIMATE GUIDELINES FOR BANKS

Federal bank regulator proposes first climate risk guidance

The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) on Thursday proposed the first-ever federal climate guidance for banks.

The guidance would be used to identify and manage risks relating to climate change or ecological disaster at any national bank or other OCC-governed institution with more than $100 billion in assets.

In a list of principles, the OCC said financial institutions should incorporate climate-related risks into determining bank strategies and operations, as well as how those risks could affect stakeholder expectations.

Zack Budryk breaks it down here.

A MESSAGE FROM CITI

Tackling the startup world’s gender, race and ethnic funding gap.

With our $200 million Impact Investment Fund we are seeking opportunities to invest in businesses that are led or owned by women and minority entrepreneurs, helping to create equitable access to venture capital funding.

Jobless claims rise to 206K after 52-year low 

New applications for jobless aid rose slightly last week after dropping to the lowest level since 1969, according to data released Thursday by the Labor Department.

• In the week ending Dec. 11, seasonally adjusted initial claims for unemployment insurance totaled 206,000. Claims rose by 18,000 from the previous week’s revised total of 188,000.
• The four-week moving average for claims fell by 16,000 to 203,750, the lowest level since Nov. 15. 1969. 

Economists say that while the labor market is strengthening, seasonal adjustments based on pre-pandemic hiring patterns may be skewing week-to-week movements in claims. I explain here.

Good to Know 

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the West Virginia Chamber on Thursday launched a wave of ads praising Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) for pushing back on his party’s $2 trillion climate and social spending bill.

Here’s what else have our eye on:

• Business lobbying groups are pushing senators to strip measures that would grant new enforcement powers to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) out of Democrats’ $2 trillion climate and social spending bill.
• Ahmad Fawad Yusufi was resting in his car after giving Uber rides around San Francisco when he was shot and killed in the early morning of Nov. 28. His family is now demanding that the rideshare giant take some responsibility for the death by providing for his family and improving working conditions for other drivers.
• Meta, the parent company of Facebook, on Thursday announced that it was taking action to crackdown on seven surveillance-for-hire companies that had attempted to target around 50,000 users.

 

That’s it for today. Thanks for reading and check out The Hill’s Finance page for the latest news and coverage. We’ll see you tomorrow.{mosads}